Bookcase



Feb. 3, 1959 W. J. MACHINGO ET AL BOOKCASE Filed March 5, 1958 F IG 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

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Feb. 3, 1959 w. J. MACHINGO ET AL BOOKCASE s Sheets-Sheet s F I G. 5

FIG. 4.

Filed March 5, 1958 INVENTORS Mum/w MACH/M90 fiwE/z'r 7 SW/MMEQ s 5 ATTORNEY United States Patent BOOKCASE William J. Machingo and Albert T. Swimmer, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The General Fireproofing Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application March 5, 1958, Serial No. 719,252

6 Claims. (Cl. 312-273) This invention relates to an improvement in cabinets especially designed for use as a unit for storing books, papers, or the like.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a cabinet having a door which normally closes the cabinet opening but, when said door is moved from a vertically closed position to a lifted horizontal position and then moved into the cabinet, the bookshelf or container is automatically moved forward to provide convenient ac cess to the articles on the shelf.

- A further object of the invention is to provide means for operating the door and the slidable shelf in a manner which will avoid binding or cocking of the unit as it is moved into and out of the cabinet.

1 With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a detail front elevation of the complete unit which may be conveniently stacked in rows or tiers.

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevation of the unit with the door moved to its elevated position.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view of one side of the unit better visualizing the relationship of the shelf or container unit to the cabinet.v

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings,

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, it will be observed that the invention includes a cabinet designated generally as A and having a top wall 1, a bottom wall 2, side walls 3, 3 and a back wall 4. The side walls 3, 3 at least have inner and outer spaced panels to house the pivoting supports for the shelf controlling levers L as will presently appear. The front of the cabinet is opened or closed by a manually manipulated door D.

Within a cabinet A there is provided a shelf S having opposite side walls 5, a bottom wall 6 and a rear wall 7. The side walls 5, 5 also include spaced panels for housing the brackets engaged by the propelling arms of said levers L.

The bottom wall 6 is provided with suitable brackets B, carrying rollers 8 which enable the entire shelf S to be slidably mounted in the inwardly facing channel members 9. These members serve as tracks for guiding the inward and outward movement of the shelf.

For the purpose of automatically efiectuating the inward and outward movement of the shelf by movement of the door D, the opposite hollow side walls 5, 5 are provided with, operating brackets 10, 10 having the open- 2,872,267 Patented Feb. 3, 1959 end vertical slots 11. Said slots receive rollers 12 carried by the propelling arms 13 of the actuating levers L, and which levers are pivoted as at 14 to brackets 15 mounted within the spaced panels of the side walls 3, 3 of the cabinet.

As will be seen from Figs. 2 and 6 more particularly, the levers L also include the angularly disposed actuating arms 16. The forward ends of these arms 16 are pivotally connected at 17 with links 18. These links have their upper ends mounted for common pivotal or hinging movement about shaft 19 journalled in a bracket 20, carried by the inside face of the door D.

It will of course be understood that the construction shown in Figures 2, 4, 5 and 6, is duplicated at opposite sides of the unit and, therefore, a description of the construction at one side will suffice for the other.

Referring back to the combined hinge and shaft 19, it may be pointed out that the opposite ends thereof carry pinions 21 meshing with a related rack portion 22 supported at each side of the construction as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Thus, the combined hinge and shaft travels back and forth with the movement of the door.

One of the features of the present invention is that all of the operating units for the shelf are completely housed so that there is no danger of any moving part coming in contact with books or other contents of the shelf.

Assuming that the shelf S is housed within the cabinet A, the door D is closed as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and it is desired to have access to the contents of the shelf S, it is necessary to first lift or raise the door D to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2.

Since the door carries the shaft 19 by the brackets 20 h and the shaft 19 has pinions 21 meshing with racks 22, inward movement of the door D in the plane of its dotted line position will carry with it the links 18, which, are connected with the lever 16 as shown in the horizontal dotted line position of Fig. 2 and the full line position of Fig. 6.

As the door is pushed further into the cabinet the pinions 21 riding over the racks 22 will cause the links to move from the vertical position of Figs. 2 and 6 to the dotted line position of Fig. 2. In performing this movement the pivot 17 will follow the trajectory of the are 17, Fig. 2, and in so doing'will lift the lever arms 16 from the dotted line position to the dot and dash line position in Figure 2.

As the levers L are rocked on their pivots 14, the arms 13 will cause the rollers 12 to move downwardly into the slots 11 and feed or propel the shelf S out of the opening afforded by the opening of the door D.

When it is desired to cause the shelf S to retreat into the cabinet, it is only necessary to pull the door D forwardly which will cause the links 18 to move the lever arms 16 from their substantially upright positions to the substantially horixontal dotted line position. As the door approaches its frame provided in the front of the cabinet, it can move from a horizontal to a vertical closed position and thus close the cabinet until it is again desired to have access to the shelf S.

We claim:

l. A bookcase or the like comprising, a cabinet, a shelf mounted in the bottom portion of the cabinet for sliding movement into and. out of the same, racks in the top portion of the cabinet, a combined shaft and hinge having pinions at its ends for engaging with said racks, a door pivotally mounted at its upper end on said shaft and movable from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position in the top of the cabinet, and link and lever means controlled by the sliding movement of said shaft for propelling the shelf out of the cabinet when the door is slidably moved into the cabinet, and vice-versa.

2. A bookcase or the like, comprising a cabinet having an access opening, a shelf slid-ably mounted in the cabinet for movement inwardly and outwardly thereof, levers each including angularly disposed arms, means at the junction of said arms for pivotally supporting said levers to the sides of the cabinet, cooperating means on one of said arms and the sides of said shelf for propelling the same into and out of the cabinet, links pivotally connected with the other of said arms, a door having a shaft connected with the ends of said links opposite the ends connected with the lever, pinions carried by the ends of said shaft, racks at opposite sides of the cabinet for engaging said pinions, said door when moving into the cabinet causing the links to actuate the levers to propel the shaft out of the cabinet.

3. A bookcase or the like, comprising, a cabinet having an access opening, a shelf slidably mounted in the cabinet for movement inwardly and outwardly thereof, levers each including angularly disposed arms, means at the junction of said arms for pivotally supporting said levers to the sides of the cabinet, cooperating means on one of said arms and the sides of said shelf for propelling the same into and out of the cabinet, links pivotally connected with the other of said arms, a door having brackets at its upper end, a shaft constituting a hinge axis and mounted in said brackets to permit the door to be moved from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position, racks on the cabinet, and pinions on opposite ends of the shaft whereby, when the door in its horizontal position is moved into the cabinet, the shaft engaging said racks will also move into the cabinet and carry the links therewith to cause said links to actuate the levers to propel the shelf out of the cabinet.

4. A bookcase or the like, comprising, a cabinet having an access opening, a shelf slidably mounted in the cabinet for movement inwardly and outwardly thereof, levers having angularly disposed actuating and propelling arms, means at the junctions of said arms for support ing said levers on the sides of the cabinet, cooperating roller and slot means on the propelling arm for actuating said shelf into and out of the cabinet, links pivotally connected with the said actuating arms, a door, a combined shaft and traveling hinge carried by the door, pinions on the end of said shaft and racks in the cabinet for engaging with said pinions.

5. A bookcase or the like, comprising, a cabinet having an access opening, a door therefor, guides on opposite inner sides of the cabinet, a shelf having rollers mounted in said guides for movement inwardly and outwardly of the cabinet, slotted bracket means on the sides of the shelf, levers having angularly disposed actuating and propelling arms pivoted at their junction to the inner wall of the cabinet, roller means at the ends of said propelling arms for engaging in the slotted bracket means, links carried by the free ends of the actuating arms, and a combined shaft and traveling hinge carried by the door for pivotally receiving the upper ends of the said links, rack means on the upper portion of the inner sides of the cabinet, and pinions keyed to opposite ends of said shaft to turn together when engaging with said racks to assure straight line feeding of the shelf relative to the cabinet.

'6. A bookcase or the like, comprising, a cabinet including top, bottom, back and side walls, said side walls including inner and outer spaced panel portions, a shelf having side walls, a back wall and a bottom wall, said side walls comprising spaced panels, channel track members carried by the inner panels of the side walls of the cabinet, brackets carried by the outer panels of the side walls of the shelf, rollers mounted in said brackets for movement in said channels to permit the shelf to move into and out of the cabinet, bracket means on the outer panels of the shelf, said bracket means including an open end vertical slot, a lever including angularly related actuating and propelling arms, an inwardly facing support between the inner and outer panels of the side walls of the cabinet, a pivot carried by said support for rockably supporting said levers at the junction of their actuating and propelling arms, rollers at the free ends of the propelling arms movable in said slots, links pivoted at one end to the free ends of the actuating arms of said levers, a door, brackets on the inside face of the door, a combined shaft and hinge element rotatably mounted in said brackets and having the free ends of the links connected therewith, rack means on the cabinet, pinions on said combined shaft and hinge element engageable with said racks, said door being swingable about the shaft to be elevated from a vertical closed position to a horizontal position to telescope within the cabinet, said door when moved inwardly of the cabinet compelling said links to move the actuating arms of said levers to cause the propelling arms thereof to propel the shelf out of the cabinet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,033,331 Labenstein July 23, 1912 2,405,668 Paxton et al Aug. 13, 1946 2,814,545 Cornish Nov. 26, 1957 

